Falling Stars
by stevejinksy
Summary: Loki falls out of Asgard and lands in Camelot. He meets Merlin and Arthur and they take him to the palace. While he's there he grows close to a mysterious lady, who may raise him up or be his doom.
1. Chapter 1

Ch. 1 - Falling Stars

Loki stared up at Thor, his hands slipping off the staff that Thor was holding out to him. Loki knew how much pain he had put him through and he regretted it. Thor held his hand out. "Brother, take my hand!" He shouted over the roaring in their ears.

Loki shook his head, his hands sliding down another inch. "Brother, listen to me." Thor pleaded, gesturing with his hand for Loki to take it. Loki shook his head again. "I can't take it. I know what I've put you through. I need to be taught a lesson."

Thor shook his head this time. "No, brother. You need to take my hand. Please." Loki slipped down another inch. He was running out of staff to hold. "Loki, please." Thor breathed, but Loki let go of the staff.

"No!" Thor screamed as Loki fell, the wind rushing about him. He couldn't see anything now. He didn't know Thor was, he didn't even know where _he _was. Suddenly he slammed on solid ground and took a deep breath.

He could smell flowers, the scent of springtime. He opened his eyes and gasped. He was laying in a clearing, in a field of wildflowers. He pushed himself into a sitting position and looked around. Trees circled him and if he looked close enough, he could make out a castle in the distance.

He heard a rustling to his right and leapt to his feet. He raised his sword but then he realized he had none. He cursed and watched as two men walked out of the line of trees. One had blonde hair, clear blue eyes, and was dressed in chain mail. The other was taller but scruffier. He had black hair, gray eyes, and was dressed in servant clothes.

The blonde one spoke. "Who are you?" Loki racked his brain, trying to think of something. He couldn't lie, because he wasn't even from here. The men wouldn't have a clue who he was. "I am Loki."

"Where did you come from?" This time it was the other man who spoke but the blonde one glared at him like, 'I'm asking the questions.' "I..." He couldn't very well say he had fallen from the sky so he decided to make something up.

"I'm from a neighboring kingdom. I got shipwrecked and I walked until I was here and then I passed out." The black-haired boy stared at him with curiousity but it was the blonde who spoke. "Let us take you back to Camelot. You can tell my father your story and I'm sure he'll let you stay."

Loki bowed, this man's father must be the king. "Thank you for your hospitatlity." He followed the two men out of the forest and past a gate. People streamed by, gawking at him, but saying nothing. Finally they reached the palace and the blonde-haired boy led him through to a throne room.

A man was sitting in a throne, talking to somebody, but when he saw the three men enter, he stopped talking and looked up. "Arthur, to what do I owe this pleasure?" The blonde, Arthur, pointed to Loki. "Father, we met this man in the woods. He says he was shipwrecked and he fell in a clearing, passed out."

"Ah, well. I shall like to talk to this man myself." He sent everyone away then turned to Loki. Loki relayed his shipwrecked story to the king and he nodded. "Well, I'm sure I can let you stay for some time." He called Arthur back in and Arthur led Loki to his chambers. "My servant Merlin, the guy with me earlier, will bring by anything you need. Just call for him. I hope you enjoy your stay in Camelot."

Arthur left Loki alone to his thoughts. He plopped onto his bed and closed his eyes. His dreams were of Asgard and Thor and a black haired woman whispering his name. _Loki, Loki._


	2. Chapter 2

Ch. 2 - Mysterious Woman

Loki awoke to a man standing over his bed. He yelped, sending the man jumping backwards. "Sorry, sorry!" The man shouted, picking himself up off the floor. Loki recognized him as the black-haired boy from earlier. Merlin.

"The king requests your presence tonight. He's having a feast. I brought you some of Arthur's things so you'll have something to wear." He pointed to a pile of clothes at the foot of the bed. "Sorry if I disturbed you, I'll be leaving now."

Loki sat up in bed. "I'm sorry, Merlin. For acting rude. I should probably say thank you." Merlin smiled at him and Loki smiled back. Merlin left the room and Loki started to change into the clothes. He walked out of the hall and found Merlin waiting for him.

"I didn't know if you knew where to find the throne room again. This castle is huge." They walked down towards the throne room together, Merlin pausing every now and then to say hello to someone. They finally made it to the throne room, where a bunch of people were milling around, talking and laughing.

He followed Merlin to an old man who he realized was the man the king had been talking to. "This is Gaius. Gaius, this is Loki." They shook hands. Suddenly everyone stopped and turned towards the doors. A girl was striding into the room and she was the most beautiful woman Loki had ever seen.

She had black hair piled up in a bun, cold green eyes, and she was wearing a bloodred dress that flowed out behind her. The weird thing was, she wasn't looking at anyone. She was staring at the ground, as if she didn't expect all this attention.

She flowed past them and Merlin's eyes followed her, his jaw dropping. "She's a princess." Loki breathed, watching her sway her hips from side to side. "Close, she's the king's ward." Merlin's voice held a note of bitterness in them.

Arthur strode past him towards the woman. He spoke to her and she giggled. Even from where Loki was standing, it was a beautiful sound. "What's her name?" Loki whispered. "Morgana." Merlin whispered back. _Morgana_. Even her name was beautiful.

"I have an announcement to make. I am pleased to welcome Loki, who will be staying in Camelot for a while." The king clapped and everyone clapped with him. Loki raised his eyes to Morgana and she smiled.

Everyone sat down as the feast began to start, Merlin had to stand because he was a servant so Loki stood with him. After the feast Loki ran into Morgana. "Hi." She smiled and Loki found himself smiling too. "I'm the Lady Morgana." Loki bowed and kissed her hand. "I'm Loki." He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around to see Merlin standing there.

"Hello, Loki. I was wondering where you got to. My lady." He directed this last part to Morgana, who nodded. "Merlin." Merlin steered Loki away from Morgana. "Are you crazy?" Merlin whispered to Loki. "She's the king's ward! If Uther ever saw you talking, he'd kill you!"

Loki looked back to where he'd seen Morgana. "I'm not scared." He turned back to Merlin who crossed his arms. "Well, you should be." Merlin looked at him with curiousity. "You didn't _really _come from a neighboring kingdom, did you?"

Loki stared at him in shock. "How did you know that?" Merlin shrugged. "Just a feeling. Don't worry, I'll keep your secret. Besides, I have many of my own." He smiled crookedly and left Loki outside his room. Loki sighed and changed into nightclothes, then he lay in his bed, wishing he hadn't let go of the staff. Wishing that he was back in Asgard.


	3. Chapter 3

Ch. 3

_"Loki, Loki." Loki could hear the black-haired woman whispering, but he couldn't see her. It was black, there was only darkness. "Where are you?" He shouted into the void, but no one answered. Then there was a voice. "Loki, your brother is worried for you. He needs you."_

_ Loki bristled in anger. "My brother does not need me. I will not go back to Asgard." The voice sounded amused. "But you want to. Your heart aches for it, like a moth to a flame. You need to go home."_

_ "That is not my home!" He shouted, his hands shaking. "I was not born there! I did not draw my first breath there!" It was several minutes before the voice answered. "It is where you grew up. It is where you had friends."_

_ Loki didn't answer. He knew that was true. "It's because of the girl, isn't it?" The voice chuckled. "You do not want to leave her." Loki clenched his hands. "So what? Is it bad that I want love? That I love someone?"_

_ The voice let out a burst of cold laughter. "Oh, you and I both know that you, Loki Odinson, are not capable of love." Loki took a step forward, his arms stiff at his sides. "Things change."_

Loki awoke with a start, clawing at the sheets. It took him a few seconds to realize where he was. _Camelot_. His dream was imprinted in his mind, he couldn't get it out of his head. _Oh, you and I both know that you, Loki Odinson, are not capable of love_.

The voice was true, he knew that. He did not deserve love. He didn't even deserve to be here. He had betrayed his brother, betrayed his family. There was a knock on the door and he sat up in bed. "Come in!" He called and Merlin entered the room, carrying a platter of food in his hands.

"I brought breakfast." He set the tray down on a table and Loki scarfed it down, not realizing how hungry he was. Merlin continued speaking, "There's another feast tonight if you want to come."

Loki finished eating and he nodded. "Sure, I'll be delighted to come." Merlin smiled and Loki did too. Merlin exited the room while Loki got dressed. He stared at his reflection in the mirror and it surprised him.

He now had dark shadows under his eyes and a wispy beard was growing on his chin. "I look different." He whispered and then he shook his head. He had other things to worry about, like how he was going to get home.

He decided to go for a walk in the woods so he pulled on his boots and slipped out of his room. The palace was quiet; Loki guessed it was about 6 a.m. He finally made it to the palace doors (taking a few wrong turns of course) and opened them into bright sunshine.

He quietly closed the doors and then made his way to the looming forest made eerie by the early morning fog. The leaves blocked the sun from reaching the forest floor and birds were chirping in the trees, searching for their breakfast.

There was a rustling to Loki's right and his left hand reached achingly down to his sword which he kept forgetting wasn't there. Morgana broke from the line of the trees, holding a horse's reins. She stopped and saw him, then froze.

He froze too, not breathing. She regained her composure and started walking towards him. His heart raced faster and his palms started getting sweaty. "Hello. Loki, is it?" Loki nodded, nervously patting his hair down.

"Of course you know me. Lady Morgana, Uther's ward." She kind of spat on the word Uther, but Loki didn't say anything. "So what brings you around here?" She gestured to the forest.

"Just walking." He inwardly cursed himself. _Walking? _She nodded and then there was just silence.

She clapped her hands together. "Well, I must be going. I have to get Lady to the stables."

"Lady?" He asked, confused.

She pointed to the horse and it trotted over there. She petted the horse's mane. "This is Lady. Isn't she beautiful?" Morgana was staringly lovingly at the horse.

Loki shrugged. "I don't know, I've never really liked horses." Morgana looked back at him, shocked.

"Well, we must get you on a horse. Come on." She clambered onto the horse and gestured for Loki to get on.

Loki shook his head. "I- I can't."

Morgana smirked at him, a playful glint in her eyes. "Come on, Loki. You're not _scared_, are you?" He stood there for a couple of minutes then finally walked over there. He put his foot in the stirrup and swung his right leg over the horse, straddling it.

"You're a natural, Loki." She laughed, while Loki tightened his legs around the horse. He didn't know what she was talking about, he felt like he was going to fall off any second. "Now put your arms around my waist and grab the reins.

"Around your waist?" Loki felt like he was going to throw up any second. He risked looking down at the ground and stifled a hurl.

"Why are you so scared?" She grabbed his arms and put them around her waist. He took a deep breath and grabbed the reins. Morgana lightly kicked Lady and Lady began to trot. A rush of adrealine went through Loki and he urged Lady to go faster.

They were galloping now, ducking under low limbs and jumping over logs. Morgana let out a whoop of delight and Loki smiled. They were going faster now and suddenly Morgana screamed, "Watch out!"

She ducked as a limb came into view. It smacked Loki on the head sending him tumbling from the horse, Morgana falling with him. He landed on the ground with Morgana on top of him, panting. Lady slowed and began to chew grass.

Morgana stared down at him, her long, black hair framing her face. Loki reached out a hand and brushed a twig from her hair then he laid his hand on her cheek. "Would it bad if I asked to kiss you?" He whispered, sending a shiver down Morgana's spine.

"You can do whatever you want." She brought her mouth to his and they kissed as the sun began to set.


	4. Chapter 4

Ch. 4

Loki sent Morgana ahead of him so they wouldn't be seen together. He walked back towards the castle, touching his lips every few seconds. There was a rustling to his right and Merlin broke from the trees, his face devoid of emotion.

Loki froze, staring at him. Merlin lifted his lips into a cold smirk and stalked towards Loki, like a lion on the prowl. "I saw everything, you know." Merlin whispered in his ear and Loki shook with rage.

"You don't know what I'm capable of, _Merlin_."

"Oh, I highly doubt that." Loki turned and shouted a spell just as Merlin did. They both flew backwards, landing on the lush grass.

Loki sat up and pointed a finger at Merlin. "You have magic."

Merlin sat up too, twigs stuck in his dark hair. "I was born with it!" Merlin sent a spell at Loki and he ducked, rolling in the grass and getting to his feet. "Stay away from Morgana!" Merlin shouted out another spell and Loki counter-attacked it.

"Why?" Loki shouted and Merlin shrugged.

"Can't tell you." Merlin said and Loki sent another spell. An invisible force knocked Merlin off his feet. He came back up, his lip bleeding. Loki stared at him as Merlin wiped his mouth. "Oh, you're good. I haven't had a challenge like this in a long time."

Loki nodded to Merlin. "Same to you."

Merlin smiled and sent a spell at Loki who ducked. The spell missed him by inches and hit a tree. The tree exploded, sending shrapnel everywhere. Loki turned back to Merlin who shrugged.

"So Loki, who are you? You know my secret of course, but what about you?" Merlin fixed Loki with a glare.

"I'm nobody."

Merlin smirked at Loki and stepped closer to him. "Oh, you and I both know you are much more than that." A warning bell saved Loki from having to reply and he quickly backed away from Merlin.

Merlin took a deep breath and began to head back towards the castle. Loki reached out a hand as if to grab Merlin but he was already out of range. Loki sighed and began to trudge back towards the castle, keeping Merlin in his sight.

When he got there, the kingdom was silent and the only people that looked alive were the guards. They pointed Loki in the direction of the throne room and he walked that way, dragging his feet.

He kept coming back to Merlin's words. _Oh, you and I both know you are much more than that_. He got to the closed doors of the throne room and heard raised voices. "For God's sake Uther, he's just a boy!" Morgana, he'd know that voice anywhere.

"He has magic! Those people will stop at nothing to destroy us." Uther, Loki guessed.

"When are you going to stop blaming people for what happened then? This is now, and I won't let you kill him!" Loki sucked in a breath. Who were they talking about?

"You will go to your chambers!"

Loki quickly backed away from the door. "And you Uther, you will go to hell." Loki hid behind a pillar as Morgana opened the door and stalked out of the room.


End file.
